Me and the Justice League

Goodbye, Coney

Circus Amok did two shows in Coney Island yesterday--possibly the last time we'll be able to perform there. Thor Equities (along with Taconic, and soon maybe others,) has managed to buy up most of the land along Stillwell Avenue, promising to turn the area into a large, resort-style hotel, much in the vein of Las Vegas's Bellagio, surrounded by smaller amusements. Ideas that have been floated around--none of them confirmed or unconfirmed--are an indoor water park, 975 high-rise condos, retail shops galore, a man-made canal, and several other roller coasters to rival the historic Cyclone.

Even the developers continue to wrangle back and forth about what the area should become, and should be used for. Joe Sitt, the founder and chief executive of Thor Equities, said upon release of the newest set of plans: "This is our way of showing the New York community that we're responsive to what they want." But this is not what we want. What we want is Coney Island.

Coney Island for me is ten seasons of Circus Amok, loading tons of scaffolding and props onto West 10th Street, under the rickety roar of the Cylcone--still at 80 years old one of the world's greatest roller coasters. It is the winter that Chris and I walked on the beach, in the snow, and had our pictures taken. It is the year when I passed out on the subway after a day in the sun with too little to eat. It is the old Thunderbolt coaster, decrepit, crumbling, finally torn down in 2000, to everyone's dismay. (Or maybe only to coaster enthusiast's dismay.)

Coney Island, as novelist Wade Rubenstein said, is "once America's playground, [but] now it's subconsious." The warring parties will go back and forth--and eventually some stale solution will be found. I don't know what it will be, what it will look like. But I promise that the development will take away something genuine about the place. Perhaps the biggest loss will be the move from public to private ownership. Because with hotels and fancy shops come more security, a new image to protect and cultivate, new public relations campaigns.

Will the new architects and designers know how the decades of use have made Coney Island beautiful? The thousands of hands brushing across the edges, people climbing up onto the BreakDancer, the WonderWheel. Please remember when you tear down the railings: the paint is worn off because they are loved.

In Tennessee

I'm exhausted--teetering, as Ms. Difranco says, between tired and really tired--which is why I haven't been able to sit down for good while and write about our trip to Tennessee.

<--- The Chattanooga Choo-Choo.

Kip and I went to visit my folks in Chattanooga for about a week--ostensibly so we could attend their annual 4th of July party, a legendary occasion all its own which draws in somewhere in the range of 150 people, in a low-key, elaborately casual sort of way.

Here is my mother awarding one of the attendees. -->

Yes, there are awards for the most elaborate costume, the most patriotic kid, and other coveted categories. And it's brunch. Read this post for a better run-down.

We also went to visit Dollywood. If gays are called to the four corners of the gay universe, they are New York, San Francisco, Provincetown and Dollywood .

Kip is decidedly easy-going about almost everything, and my parents--stubborn and decidedly parental in certain ways--truly know how to relax and have a good time doing something or nothing. We ate, we ate, and somehow--this is the greatest wonder of human nature--we were later hungry and could eat again: Foster's pound cake, potato salad, mac-n-cheese, biscuits, watermelon, that chicken thing with the chipped beef.

My great aunt Allene, who for the last however many years was a caretaker, until her mother died two years ago, has never been known, as far as I can remember, to be anything other than in perfect, relaxed control of the situation. Lately, she is perpetually on the edge of tears--or slap happy with uncontrollable fits of laughter. For no other reason, it seems, than she is old, exhausted and still running around, for the most part, full-speed ahead. She still mows her lawn, for example. Granted, it's a small Atlanta lawn, but she mows it.

<--- From left: Margaret, my Dad's sister who lives in Southern California, my Dad, me and my Mom.

My parents neighbor, Lola, who is essentially my surrogate grandmother, is becoming a bit slower, beginning to retreat into stories from the past--but then we all do that, so why should it be alarming? She is still sharp. What separates her, I think, from my father's parents is that she is still genuinely interested in other people's lives. How did the Houck's become so distant, so drawn into themselves as to obsess over the tiniest, perhaps-invented notion of what your life was, and is? Nothing comes out of the blue, I want to write--as if to prove that we could have foreseen their slow, strange, co-dependent decline that their marriage has become--but I know that is untrue. I know that sometimes the phone rings and your life is changed.

Dollywood is as I remember it, only with larger crowds. And now that NYC has colored (distorted, enhanced, righted, informed?) my perception of everything, only the people look bizarre. I forget that people don't know how to walk. That is, they don't know where their body is in space. Car culture in non-pedestrian cities is such that your spacial awareness atrophies. Or never develops to begin with. People just swing their arms and stop, turn without warning--bad drivers, if you will.

At Dollywood, we at BBQ sandwiches, heaps of roasted potatoes and cole slaw, chocolate covered potato chips, and later handfuls of red, white and blue Kettle Corn.

<-- We took pics in the photobooth.

We rode the world-ranked and Golden Ticket-winning Thunderhead rollercoaster, which lives up to its promises, or is simply a great ride, if you're not the type--like I am--to have read about it's development, construction and opening, since it was announced. (Geeky Thunderhead stuff can be found here, here and here.)

They've re-vamped Dolly's Chasing Rainbows Museum, where the story of her life and career is told via photos, her awards, and dress after dress after dress. They've also shellacked personal notes passed between Dolly and her personal assistant/longtime partner Judy. (Dolly's a lesbian, by the way. It's not unknown, but people are sometimes shocked to hear. I think the more shocking thing is that a lesbian can't have a career in country music.) It's quiet, respectful way of including Judy--since she must live an otherwise invisible existence.

We returned to New York--it's now been more than a week. It was a lovely trip.

Here we are in the parking lot before our departure -->

New for 2007!

Cedar Point recently announced their plans for the 2007 season, and it's all about Maverick, the world-renown park's 17th coaster. Debuting in May, Maverick will feature one of the steepest drops in coaster history--95 degrees--and a one-of-a-kind original element, the twisted horseshoe roll.

Designed by Intaride, LLC, the American division of the Swiss company Intamin AG, Maverick utilizes several of their signature elements, including tiered seating for better sight lines, the linear synchronous motor launching system, and a magnetic braking system. At 4,450 feet long, with more than eight airtime hills, tight low to the ground design and a second 70mph launch, Maverick will give riders about two and a half minutes of pure, unadulterated joy.

There are a selection of videos on their website, including an on-ride POV, which you can see here. You can also watch a series of interviews with park people and designers here.

Orlando Ahoy!

Off to Orlando today with Kip to visit my brother and his family--which includes my two year old nephew, who is amazing. We're doing Sea World on Friday, I believe. Despite my mixed feelings about places like that. Be back at the end of the week. In the meantime, I leave you another of Shehani Fernando's pictures.

Orlando/Tampa 2006 Stats

Coasters conquered: 11

New coasters: 8

Total inversion count: 46

Total length of coaster track traveled: 54,580 feet (10.34 miles.)

Vacation Awaits

Tomorrow morning, my friend Sean and I will fly to Orlando to visit my brother and his wife, along with my amazing nephew and their two huge labradors. I am so ready to be away for a while. The weather in Orlando looks to be lovely, despite the occasional threat of rain that hangs around (what seems like) the entire state every afternoon.

We're going to ride a bunch of rollercoasters at Universal's Islands of Adventure over the weekend, and then on Monday, Sean and I are driving to Tampa to go to Busch Gardens, where SheiKra lives, a massive 200-foot diving coaster, the tallest of its kind in the world, with more than half a mile of track at 3,188 feet long. By comparison, New Yorkers will probably have ridden the world-famous Cyclone at Coney Island, which is 2,640 feet long. Even geekier stats for SheiKra can also be seen here at the RollerCoaster Database.

Word of the Year

The word 'Podcast,' a combination of the words 'broadcasting' and 'iPod,' has been named Word of the Year by the New Oxford American Dictionary. Defined as "a digital recording of a radio broadcast or similar program, made available on the internet for downloading to a personal audio player," the word will be added to the online version of the dictionary during the next update early next year.

Some of my favorite podcasts include:

EatFeed: The food podcast that takes you back in time, across the country, around the world, and back to your own table.

Downstage Center: A weekly theatrical interview show, featuring the top artists working in theatre both on and Off-Broadway and around the country.

The Leonard Lopate Show: Conversations with writers, actors, ex-presidents, dancers, scientists, comedians, historians, grammarians, curators, filmmakers, and do-it-yourself experts.

Studio 360: A national radio show about arts and culture, hosted by novelist and journalist Kurt Andersen and produced by Public Radio International and WNYC. Current issues, events and trends in art are a jumping off point for an exploration of ideas that aren't necessarily "news," yet are provocative and offer a lens on experience that only art can provide.

Mike Birbiglia's Secret Public Journal: Every month, comedian Mike Birbiglia travels to the far reaches of the earth. Occasionally something interesting happens. So he always brings his secret public journal.

For the coaster geeks:

CoasterRadio.com: CoasterRadio.com is a weekly podcast dedicated to roller coasters, theme parks and thrill rides.

In the Loop: Weekend Review: A weekly show that brings you an in-depth look into the amusement park industry.

New for 2006!

As my blog quickly descends into geekdom and away from literary thought, I present to you the new coaster, The Voyage, which is going up at Holiday World in Indiana. This coaster is creating lots of buzz in the coaster world, and could overtake a lot of the major coasters that are currently in operation.

The Voyage (okay, so the name is crap...it's part of a new Thanksgiving-themed land at Holiday World, so what can you do?) is a wooden coaster that will hold the record for the most airtime in the world, and it's a whopping 1.2 miles long

You can read all about The Voyage and see pictures here and if you really want to geek out, you can click here and view an POV video.

The Voyage is designed by The Gravity Group, LLC, a relatively new design firm (but with tons of experience behind them) and will be built by Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters, Inc.